ClefNotes™

ClefNotes™ is a training tool for the aspiring musician, or a game for the musician who wishes to test their musical abilities – namely, pitch recognition.

For those who are just learning a musical instrument, or how to read music notation, ClefNotes can exercise and train you on where each note is on a staff. During a game, ClefNotes, by default, will play a note or a sequence of notes and display the note names in the upper left corner of the screen. You then locate the note on the staff, and tap it. You get points for each correct tap, and get points deducted for incorrect taps. Making no mistakes during a level, and playing a sequence without errors will also earn you bonus points. (For an even easier beginner starting point, turn on “Show Note Names” in the Settings screen)

For the experts, and those gifted with perfect pitch or relative pitch, you go to the Settings screen, accessible from the button with the quarter notes, on the right-bottom corner, and turn off “Show Notes To Play”. Now you will have to rely on your ear to tell you what note is being played.

When ClefNotes first starts up, it is in standby mode. In this mode, you can tap on the notes on the screen and hear the associated note, played using the instrument selected in the Settings screen. You can also access the High Score list, and of course, the Settings screen. Now, don’t forget, the bass clef, which is below the treble clef, is accessible by merely flicking your finger and scrolling the screen up.

To play a game, you tap the “Play!” button at the bottom of the screen. You now see a small representation of which notes a game offers. Along the bottom of the screen, you can select a game number which determines the spacing of the notes in each subgame. Then you can flick through the different subgames, each offering a different number or configuration of notes.

The games are designed to allow a progression to be made from easier subgames to more complex ones, and then to progress to the next game, which would have notes that are spaced more closely.

As the number of the notes go up in the games and subgames, the number of points for each correct tap increases, so does the penalty for incorrect taps. The number of points you gain or lose is impacted by the state of two settings, “Show Note Names” and “Show Notes to Play”, both set using the Settings screen. You gain the most points by turning both those settings off, which is understandable since you aren’t getting any hints from the app.

Once a game has begun, it starts in Level 1 and a single note is randomly played. The app will then wait for you to tap the appropriate note. If a correct tap is made, then the app plays another random note, and repeats this pattern. If an incorrect note is tapped, the app buzzes, and waits for you to try again. Each level has a specific amount of time alloted to it. If you run out of time without having tapped a certain number of notes correctly, then the game ends. If, however, you get enough correct taps in that time period, you will then make it to the next level. Each level after Level 1, will quiz you on a randomly selected sequence of notes. The sequence will be played, and you will have to tap each of the notes you heard in the sequence. Each correct tap gets you points, and an error-free sequence will earn you bonus points. An incorrect tap deducts a penalty but you get to try again. Each level will increase the number of notes in the sequence.

Not only do we hope that you enjoy this game, but we also are hoping that this game can sharpen your musical skills. To that end, we would love to hear about any enhancements that might make the game more successful at training you. Please write us at clefnotes@bitsonthego.com to provide us with this or any other feedback. Currently, our list of enhancements for future releases of ClefNotes includes:

I’m having the same problem. I can tap the first 4 notes, pass to level 2, and then the app plays two notes that aren’t displayed on the screen. I can only play the first 4 notes that are “tappable.” The bass clef is empty of tappable notes if I scroll down to it…

This application is GREAT! My six year old son and I are using it to learn the different notes while we are learning to play the guitar and piano. I too had the same problem that Glenn and Dan (above) had, with not being able to get past the 1st level because the base clef notes were not visible. However upon taking the advice given by ‘mz’ and turning off the “New Instrument” setting I have been able to proceed. I have another suggestion for a future release. For those of us who are actually using it for musical improvement and learning, I think it would be helpful if we had the option of sticking with a single instrument within a level until we can clearly distinguish the notes/pitch correctly. My son and I are often thrown for a loop about the tone by the change in instrument. Can we please have the option to stick with a single instrument at a lower learning level and then as we progress an option to test us also by changing the instrument would be helpful. Thanks in advance for your consideration of this request and keep up the good work!